Music in the focus of NSK’s first “Heritage at Hand at CroAtrium” event in 2026
On 5 March 2026, the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) organised the first event of its 2026 Heritage at Hand at CroAtrium programme, aimed at the promotion of Croatia’s national library collection.
Symbolically organised on the anniversary of the death of Croatia’s internationally recognised female composer Dora Pejačević, after whom the Croatian selection for Eurovision Song Contest has been named, the programme spotlighted the heritage preserved in music collections from a detective’s point of view (Glazbene zbirke – detektivski pogled na glazbenu baštinu).
Opened by the Head of the NSK Music Collection Dr Tatjana Mihalić, the programme underlined the importance of music and music-related material preserved in libraries and other heritage institutions for understanding music and its creators. It presented the Collection’s valuable holdings and its relevance in the context of the preservation of Croatia’s musical heritage, placing emphasis on the significant role of researchers in uncovering and promoting its treasures.
A detective’s perspective on the magic of music and its many secrets
Musicologist Domagoj Marić, himself a longstanding and passionate researcher of music collections, then addressed the present visitors, describing the excitement brought about by coming across various revelations, but also the challenges which he faces while digging through the secrets of musical heritage.
He presented in his lecture the interesting details of his work and insights that he gained through his systematic research of Pejačević’s legacy, as well as that of Božidar Širola, another prominent Croatian composer in the first half of the 20th century.
He focused on items related to Pejačević and Širola in the NSK Music Collection, which apart from Širola’s autograph scores holds several Pejačević’s letters, which afford us a glimpse of who she was both as a composer and a person. Marić stressed these letters’ particular value since they are the only ones which we know of that Pejačević wrote in the Croatian language.
The programme included a performance of Širola’s and Pejačević’s works by mezzosoprano Sofija Cingula and pianist Ivan Batoš – a composition which Pejačević set to Liebeslied, a poem by Reiner Maria Rilke, and two Širola’s pieces set to verses by Croatian poet Dragutin Domjanić (Brvčica, Fala).
More than 80 years of safeguarding and promoting Croatia’s music
Established in 1945, the NSK Music Collection currently holds around 17,000 volumes of printed music and over 3,000 volumes of manuscript music scores. Among its music recordings, which at the moment include some 24,000 record releases, 5,800 cassettes, 11,000 CD releases and a number of born-digital music releases, The Čapka Music Collection (Fonoteka Čapka) stands as exceptionally valuable.
In addition to material related to Pejačević and Širola, the personal archive of the author of the first Croatian opera Vatroslav Lisinski and similar archives of many other distinguished Croatian composers such as Blagoje Bersa, Ivan Zajc, Ivana Lang, etc. represent the Collection’s greatest treasures.
The Library’s Sounds of the Past website offers access to Croatia’s earliest music recordings preserved in the Collection, while the rest of the Collection’s digital items are available on the NSK Digital Collections website.
The next Heritage at Hand presentation of the Croatica collection has already been scheduled for April – we look forward to your visit to another of our heritage get-togethers again!
Photo: © NSK